Jim Turnour (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. What support is the government providing to assist local councils affected by the Victorian bushfires and the Queensland floods?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt for his question. Indeed, I was in Far North Queensland last week, looking at the flood damage that had been caused there. The member for McEwen and other members from Victoria would be pleased, I think, and heartened to know that on the morning of my visit to Far North Queensland I attended a fundraiser for the Victorian bushfires fund held by the Cairns Regional Council. I think it says something about the way that the entire nation has united that, even in communities that have been impacted by the floods in Far North Queensland and indeed throughout western Queensland, they are all kicking in. They all acknowledge the gravity of the situation in which those Victorian communities have found themselves.

I was also in Victoria last week, in Alexandra, to meet the Mayor of Murrindindi, Councillor Lyn Gunter, and the Mayor of Mitchell, Councillor Bill Melbourne. I spoke to other mayors and shire presidents from those areas that have been hardest hit by bushfires. Certainly one of those is Murrindindi, with more than a thousand homes destroyed. The numbers are not yet quite clear because, as the member for McEwen indicated, the emergency services are not yet in a position to open up those areas. In Mitchell, some 230 houses have been lost to the fires. In the meetings that I held I was very much struck by the no-nonsense, can-do attitude of these local community leaders. They were interested in sitting down and discussing what the practical measures are by which we could provide assistance.

The benefit of sitting down one on one with these community leaders was evident. For example, something that I had not thought about was that they were concerned that some of the donations made out of goodwill that had been given to the communities there—for example, new shoes—would endanger the small businesses that sell shoes in those local communities. It is similar with whitegoods, so we need to be very careful about imposing solutions from outside. I think what that really indicates is the importance of sitting down with those local communities and getting the bottom-up solutions and advice from them, and I am sure everyone in this House is committed to doing that.

When I rang the local mayors and shire presidents in the immediate aftermath of Black Saturday, the single thing that they wanted was cash support. They asked in what ways we could bring forward some financial grants to those local communities. I am pleased that today the government has brought forward the fourth quarter financial assistance grants to the communities in Victoria and in Queensland that have been impacted by these natural disasters. That is some $40 million being brought forward in Victoria and some $28 million being brought forward in Queensland. We will have ongoing dialogue with those communities to make sure that we can meet their needs. We have given those communities flexibility, for example, in the way that they receive funding under the Regional Local Community Infrastructure Program. We will be flexible on the basis that we understand that they are not in a position immediately to assess what their immediate needs are.

I was very much heartened by the courage and resilience of both the local leaders and some of the other emergency service workers and volunteers that I met during my visit to that shire. If any member of the House has suggestions re that engagement with local government, who will have such a critical role in the rebuilding process, then my door is open to them and I encourage them to make that contact.

I also visited Ingham, in North Queensland, with the member for Kennedy. There I met with the Hinchinbrook Shire Council. The Mayor, Councillor Pino Giandomenico, took me around town with the member for Kennedy to look at the flood damage and to talk about the priorities that they have for rebuilding their community and community infrastructure. The Rudd government is committed to working with local government—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. We appreciate some of the information that has been provided by the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, but I would point you to comments you made in Hansard on 14 May 2008 that it would be helpful if answers were shorter. This has now become a terribly lengthy answer, and I would ask you to point out to him that there is a difference between making a statement to the House and answering a question.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! First of all, I have to state the obvious: there is no point of order because there is no standing order about the length of answers. There is, I think, an illustration in the point being made by the member for Sturt of the difficulty here, and I of course stand by the comments that I made earlier in my tenure as the Speaker. This is like occasions when I was on the opposition benches and listened to ministers making lengthy answers which I thought had to be made that length because they were providing information to the chamber. It is also in the context that—and if people want to trawl through comments I have made before, they will see that I have also championed ministerial statements—the device of ministerial statements is being used more. I think on this occasion it does not really illustrate the point I have been trying to make about the length of answers to questions.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To continue my remarks—which are certainly not partisan remarks, I would have thought—the government remains committed, as does, I believe, this House, to working with these local communities. Local government has a critical role to play. This is an extraordinary country—you can visit flood affected areas one day and those affected by bushfires the next. We all acknowledge in this House the extraordinary difficulties which are being faced by these local communities. My point is very simple: the solutions are best provided by the shires of Murrindindi or Hinchinbrook—by those local communities putting solutions to us rather than Canberra telling those local communities what is best for them. I am committed to that, and I encourage all members who have a similar view—and I know that members such as the member for McEwen and others from affected areas certainly have that view—to be a conduit to me as local government minister during these difficult times.